2019 Malaysia Super League
# 2019 Malaysia Super League

The 2019 Malaysia Super League (Malay: Liga Super Malaysia 2019) is the 16th season of the Malaysia Super League, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia.

Johor Darul Ta'zim are the current defending champions from the 2018 Malaysia Super League seasons and will qualify for the group stage of 2019 AFC Champions League.

The first transfer window is from 29 November 2018 to 20 February 2019.

## Club licensing regulations

Since the 2018 Malaysia Super League season, as part of the privatization effort, every team in the Liga Super Malaysia must have an FAM Club Licence to play in the league or be relegated. To obtain an FAM Club Licence, teams must be financially healthy and meet certain standards of conduct as organisations.

As in other national leagues, there are significant benefits to being in the top division:

* A greater share of television broadcast licence revenues goes to Liga Super Malaysia sides.
* Greater exposure through television and higher attendance levels helps Liga Super Malaysia teams attract the most lucrative sponsorship.
* Liga Super Malaysia teams develop substantial financial muscle through the combination of television and gate revenues, sponsorship and marketing of their team brands. This allows them to attract and retain skilled players from domestic and international sources and to construct first-class stadium facilities.

Despite several reminders from FAM from the beginning of 2015, however there are few teams failed to get the approval for both AFC and FAM club licenses from First Instance Body (FIB) .

| Team(s) | AFC Club License Status | FAM Club License Status |
| - | - | - |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | Passed | Passed |
| Perak | Passed | Passed |
| PKNS | Passed | Passed |
| Pahang | Banned | Passed |
| Terengganu | Passed | Passed |
| Kedah | Passed | Passed |
| Melaka United | Passed | Passed |
| Selangor | Passed | Passed |
| PKNP | Failed | Passed |
| Kuala Lumpur | Failed | Passed |
| Felda United | N/A | Passed |
| Petaling Jaya | N/A | Passed |

*Updated: 2 January 2019

## Teams

Kelantan and Negeri Sembilan were relegated to 2019 Malaysia Premier League after finished 11th and bottom place of last season league. FELDA United and MISC-MIFA promoted to 2019 Malaysia Super League after securing place as champions and third-place in 2018 Malaysia Premier League.

### Changes from last season

**Team changes**

Promoted from the 2018 Malaysia Premier League

* FELDA United
* Petaling Jaya City FC

Relegated to the 2019 Malaysia Premier League

* Kelantan
* Negeri Sembilan

Renamed/Rebranded Clubs

* MISC-MIFA was rebranded to Petaling Jaya City FC, and located to Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Notes:

    ^1 Originally FELCRA were promoted along with FELDA United to the 2019 Malaysia Super League, but after Felcra announced their withdrawal from the Super League participation, MISC-MIFA, the next highest team in the Premier League table, were invited as replacement.

## Clubs locations

### Venues

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - |
| FELDA United | Jengka | Tun Abdul Razak Stadium | 25,000 |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | Johor Bahru | Tan Sri Dato' Haji Hassan Yunos Stadium | 30,000 |
| Kedah | Alor Setar | Darul Aman Stadium | 32,387 |
| Kuala Lumpur | Kuala Lumpur | Kuala Lumpur Stadium | 18,000 |
| Melaka United | Central Melaka | Hang Jebat Stadium | 40,000 |
| Pahang | Kuantan | Darul Makmur Stadium | 40,000 |
| Perak | Ipoh | Perak Stadium | 42,500 |
| Petaling Jaya | Petaling Jaya | Petaling Jaya Stadium | 25,000 |
| PKNP | Manjung | Manjung Municipal Council Stadium | 15,000 |
| PKNS | Shah Alam | Shah Alam Stadium | 80,372 |
| Selangor | Shah Alam | Shah Alam Stadium | 80,372 |
| Terengganu | Kuala Terengganu | Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium | 15,000 |
| Source: ||||

## Personnel, kit and sponsoring

| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Main sponsor |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| FELDA United | Nidzam Jamil | Hadin Azman | FBT | FELDA |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | Luciano Figueroa | Hariss Harun | Nike | Forest City |
| Kedah | Aidil Sharin Sahak | Baddrol Bakhtiar | Lotto | PKNK |
| Kuala Lumpur | Chong Yee Fatt (caretaker) | Indra Putra Mahayuddin | SkyHawk | DBKL |
| Melaka United | Zainal Abidin Hassan | Shukor Adan | Warrix | EDRA, CGN, KLIP |
| Pahang | Dollah Salleh | Matthew Davies | Umbro | Aras Kuasa |
| Perak | Mehmet Duraković | Nasir Basharudin | Umbro | Visit Perak |
| Petaling Jaya | K. Devan | S. Subramaniam | Puma | Qnet |
| PKNP | Abu Bakar Fadzim | Hafiz Ramdan | Admiral | PKNP, MAPS Perak |
| PKNS | K. Rajagopal | Akram Mahinan | Lotto | PKNS |
| Selangor | B. Sathianathan | Amri Yahyah | Joma | Selangor |
| Terengganu | Nafuzi Zain (caretaker) | Kipré Tchétché | Al-Ikhsan | Terengganu Inc. |

Match balls supplied by Nike, this season's version is the Merlin. Referee kits are made by Kronos.

### Coaching changes

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Kedah | Azzmi Aziz (caretaker) | End of caretaker spell | September 2018 | Pre-season | Aidil Sharin | 8 October 2018 |
| FELDA United | B. Sathianathan | Resigned | 11 October 2018 | Pre-season | Nidzam Jamil | 12 October 2018 |
| Melaka United | E. Elavarasan | End of contract | November 2018 | Pre-season | Zainal Abidin Hassan | 14 November 2018 |
| Selangor | Nazliazmi Nasir | Demoted into assistant head coach | 23 November 2018 | Pre-season | B. Sathianathan | 23 November 2018 |
| Kuala Lumpur | Chong Yee Fatt (caretaker) | Demoted into assistant head coach | 5 December 2018 | Pre-season | Yusri Che Lah | 5 December 2018 |
| Kuala Lumpur | Yusri Che Lah | Resigned | 11 March 2019 | 12th | Chong Yee Fatt (caretaker) | 11 March 2019 |
| Terengganu | Irfan Bakti | Resigned | 15 May 2019 | 8th | Nafuzi Zain (caretaker) | 15 May 2019 |

## Foreign players

Southeast Asia (SEA) players need to have acquired at least 30 international caps for their senior national team with no period restriction on when caps are earned and those who has less than 30 international caps will be subjected to FMLLP approval.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one FIFA and non-FIFA nationality.

| Team | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Asian Player | SEA Player | Former Players |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| FELDA United | Thiago Junio | Jocinei | Kei Ikeda | Masaki Watanabe | Khairul Amri | Jaycee John Quirino |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | Maurício | Leandro Velazquez | Diogo | Gonzalo Cabrera | Hariss Harun | Aarón Ñíguez |
| Kedah | Renan Alves | Jonathan Bauman | Fernando Rodríguez | Edgar Bernhardt | Shakir Hamzah | Anmar Almubaraki |
| Kuala Lumpur | Darko Marković | Paulo Josué | Guilherme | Noh Haeng-Seok | Luke Woodland | Sylvano Comvalius Ryutaro Karube |
| Melaka United | Dominik Balić | Luka Milunović | Davy Claude Angan | Jang Suk-won | Patrick Reichelt | Darko Marković Liridon Krasniqi Casagrande |
| Pahang | Hérold Goulon | Lazarus Kaimbi | Dickson Nwakaeme | Safuwan Baharudin | Saddil Ramdani | Zé Love |
| Perak | Leandro | Careca | Ronaldo | Hussein Eldor | | Wander Luiz Gilmar Zac Anderson |
| Petaling Jaya | Elizeu | Serginho | Brandão | Bae Beom-geun | Pedro Henrique | Giancarlo Joshua Grommen Pedro Henrique |
| PKNP | Pedro Victor | Ramón da Silva Costa | Giancarlo | Yashir Pinto | Amani Aguinaldo | Kalidou Yero Siyovush Asrorov Thomas Abbey |
| PKNS | Romel Morales | Gabriel Guerra | Kpah Sherman | Tamirlan Kozubaev | Kittiphong Pluemjai | Chan Vathanaka |
| Selangor | Endrick | Sandro | Ifedayo Olusegun | Taylor Regan | Michal Nguyễn | Antonio German Rufino Segovia |
| Terengganu | | Lee Tuck | Kipré Tchétché | Sanjar Shaakhmedov | Thierry Bin | Igor Zonjić |

* Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
* ^1 Foreign players who left their clubs or were de-registered from playing squad due to medical issues or other matters.

### Naturalisation players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 |
| - | - | - |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | La'Vere Corbin-Ong | Kiko Insa |
| Kedah | David Rowley | |
| Kuala Lumpur | Khair Jones | |
| Pahang | Matthew Davies | Mohamadou Sumareh |
| Melaka | Wong Tse Yang | |
| Perak | Brendan Gan | |
| PKNS | Nicholas Swirad | |

Notes:

    ^3 Carrying Malaysian heritage.
    ^4 Participated in the Malaysia national team squad.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Johor Darul Ta'zim (C) | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 49 | 19 | +30 | 53 | Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Pahang | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 37 | 21 | +16 | 43 | |
| 3 | Selangor | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 41 | 35 | +6 | 37 | |
| 4 | Kedah | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 37 | 29 | +8 | 34 | Qualification for AFC Champions League preliminary round 2 |
| 5 | Perak | 22 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 36 | 31 | +5 | 33 | |
| 6 | Melaka United | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 34 | 30 | +4 | 33 | |
| 7 | Terengganu | 22 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 35 | 37 | −2 | 30 | |
| 8 | Petaling Jaya City | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 22 | 29 | −7 | 26 | |
| 9 | PKNS (R) | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 37 | 38 | −1 | 21 | Relegation to Malaysia Premier League |
| 10 | Felda United | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 27 | 43 | −16 | 19 | |
| 11 | PKNP (R) | 22 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 22 | 40 | −18 | 16 | Relegation to Malaysia Premier League |
| 12 | Kuala Lumpur (R) | 22 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 24 | 49 | −25 | 14 | Relegation to Malaysia Premier League |

* ↑ Kedah FA qualified for the AFC Champions League preliminary round 2 as Malaysia FA Cup winners.
* ↑ PKNS F.C. relegated after withdrawing license to complete for the 2020 Malaysia Premier League season as they become feeder club to Selangor FA.

## Result table

| Home \ Away | FEL | JDT | KED | KLU | MEL | PAH | PRK | PJC | PKP | PKS | SEL | TFC |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| FELDA United | — | 0–2 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 5–4 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Johor DT | 3–1 | — | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 3–3 |
| Kedah | 4–0 | 1–1 | — | 5–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| Kuala Lumpur | 0–2 | 0–4 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 |
| Melaka United | 6–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–4 | 3–3 |
| Pahang | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| Perak | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 3–1 |
| Petaling Jaya | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| PKNP | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–4 | 2–3 | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| PKNS | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–3 | 1–2 |
| Selangor | 1–1 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–4 | — | 1–0 |
| Terengganu | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–5 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — |

## Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Pahang | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Selangor | 7 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| Kedah | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Perak | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Melaka United | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| Terengganu | 8 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Petaling Jaya | 9 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| PKNS | 6 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| FELDA United | 5 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
| PKNP | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 |
| Kuala Lumpur | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 |

* Leader
* Relegation to 2020 Premier League

## Season statistics

### Top scorers

    As of matches played on 21 July 2019.

Players sorted first by goals, then by last name.

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Kpah Sherman | PKNS | 14 |
| 2 | Diogo | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 12 |
| 2 | Ifedayo Olusegun | Selangor | 12 |
| 4 | Gonzalo Cabrera | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 11 |
| 5 | Patrick Reichelt | Melaka United | 10 |
| 6 | Giancarlo | Petaling Jaya/PKNP | 9 |
| 6 | Fernando Rodriguez | Kedah | 9 |
| 8 | Guilherme de Paula | Kuala Lumpur | 8 |
| 8 | Leandro Velázquez | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 8 |
| 8 | Safawi Rasid | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 8 |
| 8 | Sanjar Shaakhmedov | Terengganu | 8 |

### Top assists

    As of matches played 21 July 2019.

| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Lee Tuck | Terengganu | 7 |
| 2 | Edgar Bernhardt | Kedah | 6 |
| 2 | Romel Morales | PKNS | 6 |
| 2 | Sandro | Selangor | 6 |
| 5 | Baddrol Bakhtiar | Kedah | 5 |
| 5 | Safawi Rasid | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 5 |
| 5 | Diogo | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 5 |

### Clean sheets

    As of matches played on 21 July 2019.

Players sorted first by clean sheets, then by last name.

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Ifwat Akmal | Kedah | 6 |
| 1 | Helmi Eliza | Pahang | 6 |
| 1 | Khairul Fahmi | Melaka United | 6 |
| 1 | Farizal Marlias | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 6 |
| 5 | Zarif Irfan | PKNS | 5 |
| 6 | Hafizul Hakim | Perak | 4 |
| 6 | Muhaimin Mohamad | PJ City | 4 |
